Faith of the Founding Fathers debated

A blog on the Religion Link website, "Faith of the Founders: Presidents and religion in America," expands on that notion with background notes, links to many articles on the subject and a large list of regional sources.

"The Presidents Day holiday spotlights (an) enduring focus on religion and the nation’s leaders – then and now – a theme running through recent books and movies, and in ongoing arguments about church and state," the unnamed blogger notes. "President Barack Obama’s address at the National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 7 was the latest example of the spiritual role the chief executive is expected to play. Obama’s second inaugural address two weeks earlier, with its references to God-given freedoms and the American creed, was another."

The blogger notes that the roots of this tradition go back to the founding of the country, and the dispute over the religious zeal of the Founding Fathers and the early presidents, from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln.

"Were they Christians, and hence is America to be considered a Christian nation? Or were they deists? Or men of no faith at all?"

A book published last year on Thomas Jefferson, "The Jefferson Lies" by David Barton, a conservative activist and prominent evangelical apologist, is fueling renewed debate. Barton wrote that Jefferson had an unorthodox view on religion and promoted the separation of church and state.